When do you let kids explore the boat or stay in the room on their own?

In that vein, I recently discovered that many airlines now won't allow unaccompanied minors until age 16. We used to fly down alone to spend the summers with our grandparents starting at age 10. I can't afford to just fly down with him and right back again!

I thought you can pay extra to have them fly unaccompanied prior to age 14. After 14 they can fly on their own without paying the unaccompanied child fee.

I just read a story today about a kid in Australia who was 12 and stole his mom’s credit card and flew to Bali. I wonder how they even let him on the plane.

Originally posted by CruiseGal999 NCL employee admits to and is tried for touching a young girl's privates (both buttocks and pubic area) on her bed in her cabin while she was sleeping.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/show....php?t=2584411

So you're arguing they're actually safer roaming the halls?

Um .... NO I am NOT arguing at all .... Nowhere did I say children should or would be safer roaming the halls.

I posted the above to prove how UNSAFE children alone can be. No matter where they are ... either walking the halls, or alone in their private cabin (where they should be safe), but aren't.

My kids were 13 and 9 on our last cruise on Holland America. The 13 year old had privlages ofbeing on his own, but only under certain circumstances. We got him a watch that he had to wear at all times. He was allowed to go up to the teen club or go to an activity, but we always gave him a time and a meeting place to meet back up with us. He always knew were we were going to be, so he was really good about finding us and if he was going to move locations. I knew I could trust him and we’d been on several Holland America cruises, so he knew the ships. My daughter was able to go into the lido restaurant if we were sitting out on the deck and down to the room with her brother just to get something.

On our next cruise they will be 14 and 10 and we are going on RCCL on the navigator, which is a much bigger ship for all of us. The 14 year old will have the freedom, but we will probably walk the ship with him, though he has really good sense of direction.

We will see if I let my daughter have the sign in and outprivlages.

A cruise ship has thousands of private closed off bedrooms. Not saying anything will happen but if someone is on the ship with bad intentions they have a lot more privacy to do as they please than a mall or other public venue. Even the best behaved kids can be lead astray and find themselves in a situation they cannot get themselves out of. I think kids need to be older, wiser and more aware to be on their own on a cruiseship. I am all for independence and allowing children to prove themselves but at 7-9yrs old a cruise ship is not the place for this.

Totally agree

My kids were 13 and 9 on our last cruise on Holland America. The 13 year old had privlages ofbeing on his own, but only under certain circumstances. We got him a watch that he had to wear at all times. He was allowed to go up to the teen club or go to an activity, but we always gave him a time and a meeting place to meet back up with us. He always knew were we were going to be, so he was really good about finding us and if he was going to move locations. I knew I could trust him and we’d been on several Holland America cruises, so he knew the ships. My daughter was able to go into the lido restaurant if we were sitting out on the deck and down to the room with her brother just to get something.

 

On our next cruise they will be 14 and 10 and we are going on RCCL on the navigator, which is a much bigger ship for all of us. The 14 year old will have the freedom, but we will probably walk the ship with him, though he has really good sense of direction.

 

We will see if I let my daughter have the sign in and outprivlages.

We’ll be in the exact same situation, my son will be 13.5 and my daughter 10. I plan to give my son quite a bit of freedom, he can find his way around easily and has good common sense. My daughter doesn’t have a good sense of direction or as much common sense, so I’m not likely to give her check out privileges or much freedom unless she’s with her brother

My daughter was given privileges to sign herself in and out of the kids club when she was 9. Before we sailed, I drew up a contract with specific conditions for her to follow in order to keep this privilege. One of the biggest points was that she could not go down any cabin-only decks. She always had to walk across the public decks, then take the elevator or stairs that landed her right next to our cabin. She had to prove to me she could get from our cabin and back by herself on the very first day. She also had to notify us where she was going before she left the cabin or the club, and then go straight to her destination (with quick a stop for ice cream while in route, if she wanted.) She loved having this privilege, and one day, hubby and I secretly followed her, just to check up on and also for a little entertainment of our own. (Had to make sure we weren’t spotted in the stairwells!) She did exactly as she was supposed to, and you could tell she felt liberated being “on her own” for the journey. Still, she spent most of the week hanging out with us, rather than roaming the ship. She just liked knowing she could go if she on her own wanted to.

She will be 12 on our next cruise, and the sign in/sign out for the kids club at that age is way more lax. So I’ve drawn up a new contract for her, that includes checking in with us before she leaves any area, and after she gets there. The other rules about cabin-only decks and navigating the first day still apply, but I’ve added a few more stipulations, like not accepting any drinks from anyone other than her parents or crew members.

 

 

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My just-turned-10 daughter read this post. I asked if she’d want to have check out privileges. She asked “why would I want that? What would I do by myself anyway? It’s not like I’d be able to go swimming or something.” So I guess that settles that issue! 😂

When ds was 10 we started slow. He could sign himself out of the kid's club, go to the lido for pizza or ice cream (he had his own beverage card too) and he could go back to the cabin. If he made friends onboard, he had to let us know exactly where he would be and check back in with us periodically. We always told him where we would be so no confusion. He already knew all the "stranger danger" stuff. Every cruise we let him have a bit more freedom. It works for him.

Back from our trip (Baltic cruise). 13 yo had free reign when we were on the ship, spent a lot of time in teen club. Both kids stayed in cabin on their own or together at times, explored ship together, 10 yo didn’t go alone bc she has a bad sense of direction and would even get lost in the buffet....

This might be a cultural issue. My 10 year old took her 5 year old by public bus alone to a science museum and made sure he got lunch.

 

 

 

Scandinavian kids tend to be allowed more freedom than most. What are they used to? Do you have the experience that they can handle being on their own?

I don’t think it’s a matter of the kids not being able to get from point A to B and back on their own, but on the way say they are walking down the hallway and someone opens their door and pulls them in....only take a second for someone to take your child.

One time on a ship a few crew members told me to never let her out of my sight [emoji15]

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12 and 15 really? I was babysitting at 13 and had a real job at 15. I became a supervisor at 16 which included closing down the store and counting down the tills, and even being in charge of people much older then I was. All while maintaining A/B's in school, still playing in the band and pep band, also while making time to ride and take care of my horse that I paid all expenses for out of my own money along with car insurance even though I didn't own a car. Pretty sure I was responsible and could have been trusted alone on a cruise ship. I know times have changed but not that much in 15 years.

 

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Babysitting and at work you were in a controlled environment. Not so on a floating city.

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I don’t think it’s a matter of the kids not being able to get from point A to B and back on their own, but on the way say they are walking down the hallway and someone opens their door and pulls them in....only take a second for someone to take your child.

 

One time on a ship a few crew members told me to never let her out of my sight [emoji15]

 

 

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Personally I don’t tend to worry much about that kind of thing. I was actually worried about m6 kid getting from place A to B, but each parent worries abou5 different things...

Babysitting and at work you were in a controlled environment. Not so on a floating city.

 

 

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At 14 and 16, my girls took buses and trains to NYC, and spent 2 nights in a hotel without us in Philadelphia at a dance competition.

We let the kids have some freedom on this last sailing. Mine are 10 and 7 and they were allowed to stay in the room on their own for an hour or two or go down to one of the cafes to get a quick bite and then meet up back with us. My older one knew his way around the ship fairly well.